Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Ryan Tannehill DOMINATES Practice, Multiple Roster Moves and Kicker Troubles

Starting point is 00:00:00 We all may be talking about Malik Willis and Will Levis, but it was Ryan Tannehill who dominated at practice on Monday and reminded everyone why he's the top dog at quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. We're going to talk about that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:52 I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. The Tennessee Titans were back out on the practice field on Monday, and I'm breaking down everything you need to know from that session. First, Ryan Tannehill dominated early in practice and kept it going throughout. We're going to talk about his performance. Also, the Titans made quite a bit of roster news on Monday. I'm going to break down everything that happened, and I'll finish the show with a little conversation about the kicker problems that the Titans currently have.

Starting point is 00:01:18 So we're going to talk about all of that on today's show before we get into it. I want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms and always free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network where it's your team every day.

Starting point is 00:01:43 Speaking of every day, I got some good stuff coming for my everydayers out there. The Titans have joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings this week on Wednesday and on Thursday. I'm going to be here breaking that down with you guys. And on tomorrow's show, I'm going to do a little preview of what you should be watching for at joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings. Of course, on Friday, I'll have a game preview, and Saturday, I'll be here live breaking down everything that happened during the Titans' second preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings. So make sure that you get subscribed.

Starting point is 00:02:15 Once again, throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you're watching as well. The show's always free. All I ask for in return is a few presses of some buttons out there. But with that being said, let's dive right into today's news. And number one, like I said, Ryan Tannehill dominated in practice. According to Jim Wyatt from TennesseeTitans.com, Ryan Tannehill completed his first 16 passes all the way from one-on-ones, two-on-twos, seven-on-sevens,

Starting point is 00:02:40 all the way to full 11-on-11. Ryan Tannehill was absolutely pinpoint sharp throughout the day. And I mean, that wasn't the only report that showed Tannehill's dominance. Everyone was discussing how sharp and precise Tannehill looked on the day. And it's funny, everybody's talking about Malik Willis and Will Levis and Ryan Tannehill's heir apparent and replacement. And Tannehill showed up on Monday like, hey, now, I am number one out here. I am the top guy on the depth chart for a reason.

Starting point is 00:03:09 So Tannehill just had to remind everybody. Now, Tannehill did stall out late in practice in a two-minute drive. He had three straight completions to start it, but then a Fulton pass breakup knocked the ball away from Traylon Burks, kind of ended the streak there according to reports. But along with Tannehill's domination, of course, there had to be people catching the football. And DeAndre Hopkins and Traylon Burks had fantastic days.

Starting point is 00:03:34 DeAndre Hopkins looked exactly like himself, according to reports, back out there. After a slow end to the week last week, he missed a practice, missed a practice and a half, stuff like that. But Hopkins was ready to go. The word used to describe Traylon Burks by A to Z Sports was unguardable. Traylon Burks taking that next step up, especially in one-on-ones, red zone opportunities.

Starting point is 00:03:55 Burks is a guy who physically should be able to dominate everybody else. Reggie Roberson, according to Teron Davenport, had some beastly catches in the red zone. And Josh Wiley, who had a very tough day out there on Saturday. The ball goes through his hands on the interception for Malik Willis. He has the fumble as well. According to Jim White, it was Josh Wiley's best day of training camp. So good to hear that the rookie is bouncing back.

Starting point is 00:04:24 Tannehill threw back-to-back touchdowns to DeAndre Hopkins and Tajay Spears in red zone 11 on 11s. Had a touchdown to Chris Moore, Chigga Conquo. That was reported as well. So a very, very good day for Ryan Tannehill. Now, I do want to take just a quick detour here. We're talking quarterbacks. I've watched the film multiple times now of Malik Willis and Will Levis,

Starting point is 00:04:49 and I plan on putting out an article for Sports Illustrated later this week. It'll probably be on Tuesday. Then Will Levis on Wednesday, I think, is the way that I'm going to space those out. But I'm going to be doing a film article, kind of breaking down everything you need to know from those guys. I'm going to try to do it in a video format as well. But Malik had a good day at practice on Monday. He was 10 for 17.

Starting point is 00:05:13 He completed seven straight passes, according to Jim White. He did, however, throw an interception in the red zone to Trey Avery. Shout out to Trey Avery, who had an interception in the game against the Bears as well. But Malik, generally speaking, I mean, you look at the stats, 10 for 17. You look at Levis, 6 for 8. And there were reports that Levis threw a touchdown to Gavin Holmes, but seemed kind of quiet, in my opinion.

Starting point is 00:05:40 Didn't hear a lot about Will Levis. And I mean, Malik threw nine more passes. in my opinion, didn't hear a lot about Will Levis. And I mean, Malik threw nine more passes. To me, sounds like Malik Willis is, like I thought would happen when we talked about it after the game, Malik Willis is keeping that quarterback two spot. He is getting the majority of reps over Will Levis.

Starting point is 00:06:01 And I think he should because you go back to the tape, Malik Willis was still a little too slow on some plays. He needs to get the ball out of his hands quicker. There were at least two sacks that I saw that I thought were on Malik because he didn't get the ball out of his hands. But I thought Malik was better. As I said, after the game, immediately, I thought Malik was better than Will Levis, even if it was just slightly. Because my big knock on Will Levis is he just was too cocky. He would not take the easy throw and not make the easy decision because he was waiting for something better to come up, waiting for a bigger play to happen.

Starting point is 00:06:37 You can reset your feet, take a little bit more time, make a good pass, or throw off platform and throw sidearm and try to get it in. And then the pass is there, but it's just not as good as it could have been. I just thought there were some cocky decisions from Will Levis when he should have got the ball out of his hands or went to the next guy or taken the check down, things like that. So Malik Willis needs to speed up. Will Levis needs to be a little more conservative in my opinion. Quit trying to make

Starting point is 00:07:06 the big play all the time. And I'm going to break that down in my film articles this week. So go follow at All Titans SI on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. I'm on TikTok now at LockedOnTitans on Instagram at LockedOnTitans. I'm going to have a ton of film

Starting point is 00:07:21 content for you guys that I unfortunately because of monetization and copyright, blah, blah, blah, I can't post all 22 film on the channel. So I just want to let you guys know exactly where you can find all that stuff that I'll be talking about throughout the weeks, not only this week, but during the season as well. But overall, Tannehill dominated the day. Still think Malik Willis has the advantage over Will Levis as well, but the Titans joint practices against the Minnesota Vikings will tell us a lot, and I'll be breaking that all down, but we got to talk about the roster moves that the Titans made. The Titans are starting to churn

Starting point is 00:07:53 the roster. There may not be a cut down day after every preseason game now. There's only one at the end of the preseason schedule, but the Titans are still going to churn that roster week to week, so we'll talk about all the moves that the Titans made here in just a moment. Before we do, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors. Our partners at eBay Motors have teamed up with Locked On Fantasy Football host Vinny Iyer to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each week all season long. Whether you're prepping for a draft, scouting the waiver wire,

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Starting point is 00:10:17 prices at ebaymotors.com. Let's ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit. Only available to U.S. customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about the biggest story at Tennessee Titans practice on Monday. It was Ryan Tannehill and how sharp and precise he was.

Starting point is 00:10:56 16 straight completions, ended up 17 for 20 on the day. Excellent stuff from the Titans starting quarterback. We're all talking Malik Willis and Will Levis, but Tannehill is there to remind everybody I'm still the top dog at the position. But now, got to talk about some roster moves that the Titans made, because the Titans are starting to shuffle

Starting point is 00:11:14 the bottom of the roster. Before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, the Titans have joint practices against the Vikings. I'm going to be breaking down both days of practice here

Starting point is 00:11:27 on Wednesday night and Thursday night on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel, Locked on Titans podcast. I'm going to have a preview for you guys on Friday for the game on Saturday. And I'm going to be going live after the game on Saturday to break down everything that happened and then we'll start it all over again on Sunday night.

Starting point is 00:11:43 So make sure that you stay locked in into the Locked on Titans podcast. It's your team every day, always free, not going to beat that anywhere else. But number one, the Titans signed two players on Monday. They signed a familiar face and defensive tackle, defensive lineman Kyle Pecco. You guys will remember Pecco, obviously, a Polynesian guy. He's got the big, long, curly hair coming out of the back, nose tackle. Kyle made some good plays for the Titans in 2021. He played eight games for the Titans.

Starting point is 00:12:15 I think it was 11 tackles. He had two sacks, forced a fumble, had two tackles for loss. He had some really good moments as a nose tackle for the Titans. I'm pretty sure it was T.R. Tartt that was banged up at the time, and that kind of gave Pecco an opportunity to come in there and play some games, and I thought Pecco did pretty well. He spent 2022 with the Las Vegas Raiders, played in eight games, had a similar stat line without the sacks. He's an end of the roster, defensive tackle, one down player. You know what I mean? You know what you're getting when you get Kyle Pecco, but at the end of the day, I thought some

Starting point is 00:12:50 of the interior defensive linemen really underperformed for the Titans, whether it be TK McClendon, whether that be Tyler Shelvin, whether that be Shaquille Brown, I thought those guys underperformed. So I thought, well, the interior defensive line in general underperformed. So I thought bringing in Kyle Pecco definitely does make some sense. And it turned out after practice, we learned that Shaquille Brown, defensive tackle, was moved to injured reserve and is out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury that happened on Saturday against the Bears.

Starting point is 00:13:21 He left the game early, was declared out pretty quickly. So it makes sense now the Titans will be putting him on IR, bringing in Kyle Pecco to fill that spot. So that's what happened there. It wasn't just that defensive tackle too. If you guys remember, highly touted prospect and recruit Marvin Wilson from Florida State. He spent the last two years with the Philadelphia Eagles and now he's on the open market again. The Titans brought him in for a workout. I don't know if the Titans are still going to sign him and maybe make some other moves at the end of the roster with some of the other names I talked about.

Starting point is 00:13:52 Shelvin McClendon, Naquan Jones has been banged up quite a bit. Naquan Jones missed practice again on Monday, so maybe they could bring in Marvin Williams, or Marvin Wilson as a replacement for him, but it could be a situation where they were like, we saw Marvin Wilson and we know Kyle Pecco. We just decided to go get Kyle Pecco, who we know knows how to do the job. So I like the idea to go get Kyle Pecco as well.

Starting point is 00:14:15 Here's the reality. As the Titans get closer to the season, they need to look themselves in the mirror about some of the young guys they have on the roster who aren't getting the job done and say, hey, we need some depth at this position. We got to go add somebody. And we got to stop relying on these undrafted free agent rookies or second-year players, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Starting point is 00:14:37 And that's going to make even more sense as we continue talking about the roster moves. But overall, the Titans put Shaquille Brown on IR. They signed Kyle Pecco on the defensive line. Moving to running back, Jonathan Ward got hurt, knee injury during the game against Chicago. Hassan Haskins also banged up his arm. Now, Haskins banged himself up early in the game. I think it was on a special teams play.

Starting point is 00:14:59 But then he came back. No, it was the play where there was the Chris Moore play from Malik Willis. It was Hassan Haskins who tried to dive for the ball, and he kind of hurt his arm. He was holding it was the play where there was the Chris Moore play from Malik Willis. It was Hassan Haskins who tried to dive for the ball, and he kind of hurt his arm. He was holding it after the play. But then he came back in the next drive and was the primary running back for Will Levis' first drive. But apparently there was something else in there,

Starting point is 00:15:16 but Haskins didn't practice on Monday. So with Jonathan Ward not practicing and Hassan Haskins not practicing, the Titans went out and got a running back and they signed Jock Patrick who came out of college in 2021, spent some time with Cincinnati. I think he's played in two games with San Francisco. I think he came out in 2020 and spent time with Cincinnati. He played two games with San Francisco in 2021.

Starting point is 00:15:44 And he's kind of been a journeyman, played with the Broncos for a little bit most recently. He's 6'3", 230 pounds. So he's a big guy. So he's going to be able to take a lot of carries. And I think he's a guy who the Titans will look for to try to help on special teams. The Titans want fast size speed combos on special teams. I think Jock Patrick could fill that need, but I think it's more of a just a body to help with some of these injuries. The Titans are having it running back with Ward and Haskins. The Titans also tried out along with Marvin Wilson, who I mentioned earlier, they tried out Ronald Darby.

Starting point is 00:16:19 Darby is a veteran, been in the NFL for eight seasons. He did tear his ACL in week five with the Denver Broncos last year. But prior to that, really solid player as an outside cornerback, part of a really good secondary in Denver. Now he's probably a free agent because people are worried about his knee injury. That makes sense. But it does make sense also that the Titans are looking for some outside cornerback help. Okay. Because somebody said to me on Twitter, how many outside corners do they need? Well, they don't have that many.

Starting point is 00:16:48 Let's go over it. You have Fulton and Sean Murphy bunting. You have Trey Avery. They've been using Roger McCreary more in the slot this year and would like to keep using him in the slot. And then outside of those three guys, all you have is undrafted free agent rookies. Caleb Farley's still hurt.

Starting point is 00:17:09 So, you want to move a guy who you like in the slot, whether that be Roger McCreary or whether that be, see, a guy who I'm thinking of is Eric Garb, who was a standout on Saturday as a slot guy. But because the Titans don't have enough outside corners, he's 5'8 and had to play 12 snaps as a boundary corner, 15 snaps as the slot guy. He's 5'8. He's physical.

Starting point is 00:17:36 He needs to be a slot guy. Think about Elijah Molden in his rookie year. That's what Eric Garer should be able to do this year as a rookie if he makes the roster. You can't waste reps that you need to see of him in the slot having him on the boundary because you don't have any depth there. So you bring in Ronald Darby. You let Darby be one of those outside boundary corners.

Starting point is 00:17:57 And then you can stop using guys like Amani Marsh and Eric Garra who are small slot cornerbacks, using them on the outside because you don't have depth. This could also mean that Caleb Farley's injury is not progressing well and they don't expect to have him back anytime soon. That's also a possibility. But I do also want to say there is a cornerback spot open because the last roster move that popped up

Starting point is 00:18:21 was Chris Jackson waived by the team to make room for Jock Patrick, the running back. the last roster move that popped up was Chris Jackson waved by the team to make room for Jock Patrick, the running back. So, let's do a recap here. The Titans signed Kyle Pecco. They put Shaquille Brown on IR. The Titans signed

Starting point is 00:18:38 running back Jock Patrick. I keep wanting to say Peterson because I'm thinking Jock Peterson, the baseball player. Jock Patrick. And they waived Chris Jackson. And then they activated defensive back Josh Thompson off of the PUP list. He already counted towards the 90-man roster even on, or it was the NFI list, non-football injury.

Starting point is 00:19:01 He already counted towards the 90-man roster, so no roster moves for him but Josh Thompson back off the NFI. Tried out Darby, tried out Wilson. There's your recap of the roster moves. Now I just want to do a little mini rant for you guys on the Titans kicker situation because it's getting ugly out there. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about Ryan Tannehill's performance in practice.

Starting point is 00:19:45 We talked about all the different roster moves and why those roster moves were being made in our second segment. Now I want to end things off just talking about the Titans kicker problems because I'm starting to get a little worried. Alright. With the two young guys, sadly, Caleb

Starting point is 00:20:01 Shudak and, of course, Trey Wolf. The Wolf Pack. We're on life support here. Sadly, Caleb Shudak and, of course, Trey Wolf. The Wolf Pack. We're on life support here. But things got uglier at practice on Monday. I'm going to explain just my general thoughts and how I'm feeling here before I get into it. I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen each and every day.

Starting point is 00:20:21 Throw a thumbs up on the video right now. Hit the subscribe button as well, the notification bell, so you know when all the content goes live. Let me know down below how you feel about the kicker position as well as I kind of start to explain this. But again, your team every day. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed. So, Caleb Shudak

Starting point is 00:20:44 Shudak, Shudak, Shudak kicked the ball out of bounds on a kickoff on Saturday. Just can't do that. Strange to see that. So, that's not good. He also barely, barely, barely made the 41-yard field goal that he ended up making. Wasn't a well-struck ball. Didn't go through the middle of the uprights.

Starting point is 00:21:13 Barely went in on the right side. Trey Wolf. Sad Wolf. Trey Wolf missed his only field goal attempt, 48-yarder. Missed it, pushed it. At practice on Monday, according to multiple reports, Caleb Shudak goes 7-for-7 in the special teams period. So if you guys have been in a football practice,

Starting point is 00:21:42 you do individual,, do special teams, maybe a little more individual, go into some team period, blah, blah, blah, like that. So during the special teams period, Shudak was 7 for 7. Awesome. Great job. Just like last week,

Starting point is 00:21:59 when he went 9 for 9 in the special teams period. But then, when you get into some practical game situations, and the Titans are practicing two-minute drill, and they need to get down and kick a field goal, well, both Chudik and Wolfe missed their field goals today. In the actual team period circumstantial drills, where they're actually trying to pretend like it's a real game, you know?

Starting point is 00:22:32 Get game situations in. So special teams period 7-for-7 when it matters, miss your field goal. Shuttick was short on a 53-yarder. Wolfe pushed one wide on a 50-yarder. And this takes me back to another time last week. Every dayers will remember where the same thing happened. We see these guys make their kicks

Starting point is 00:22:52 in special teams period and then miss them when we get in the game simulations. Worrisome. I mean, Shudak was a rookie last year and then got hurt and didn't play all year.

Starting point is 00:23:04 Wolf is a rookie this year. I always thought it was crazy that the Titans were just like, hey, we're picking one of these guys and going with them. This team is in win-now mode with the addition of DeAndre Hopkins. Like, they just can't afford to do this. They can't afford it. So, this week in Minnesota is going to be big for the kickers.

Starting point is 00:23:28 If one of them doesn't step up in a major way and look comfortable and make some kicks, the Titans don't have a lot of time to play around. None of these are good options. I'm about to go over some free agents for you. None of these are good options. None. Don't get me wrong.

Starting point is 00:23:44 Okay? But, you got to weigh your options here. Randy Bullock. He did go 17 for 20 last year. 28 for 28 on extra points. You got a home here, Randy. You got a home here. you got a home here, Randy. You got a home here. Robbie Gold, he's like 40, but 27-32 last year on kicks. 50-51 on extra points.

Starting point is 00:24:16 Grant Carthon probably knows him from their days in San Francisco together. Might be more reliable than one of these young guys. Ryan Suckup, 31-38 last year. 24-25 extra points. Probably my least favorite option there. Zane Gonzalez. He got hurt. Didn't kick in 2022, but

Starting point is 00:24:35 in 2021, he was 20-22 for field goals. 22-23 on extra points for Carolina. Just saying. He's 28, so he's way younger than the other guys. This just brings me back to why I was kind of, I don't want to say upset, but just annoyed that the Titans didn't talk to Brett Mayer.

Starting point is 00:24:56 I know that he had an ugly end of the playoffs last year, but go look at his stats for the Cowboys last year. Go look at his leg and how long of a kick he can make. Mayer would be the best kicker that the Titans have had in a few years. Brandon McManus got cut by the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:25:17 Now Mayer's with the Broncos. Brandon McManus, I think he's with Jacksonville now. Just saying, the Titans could have brought in one of those guys, but they went with the two young guys, and now both of them are kind of struggling, and it's worrisome. It's worrisome for me,

Starting point is 00:25:31 but that is going to do it for today's show. Talked about Tannehill's domination in practice, the roster moves, the kicker problems. Tomorrow, I'm going to have a preview for you of joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings. Who am I looking for? Who are some players on Minnesota who should give the Titans a good run for the money, give them some good work.

Starting point is 00:25:51 Going to be really exciting to see the Titans play against somebody else in different practices. But with that being said, that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Ryan Tannehill DOMINATES Practice, Multiple Roster Moves and Kicker Troubles

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